classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

a bravura is a style of both music and its performance intended to show off the skill of a

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art ob ...

. John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, ''A dictionary of music and musicians (A.D. 1450-1889)'
p. 271-272
/ref> Commonly, it is a virtuosic passage performed as a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

, and often in a cadenza. The term implies "effect for effect's sake", therefore, while many pieces of Beethoven do require a high skill, they are not described as "bravura". Fuller-Maitland suggests the following arias as examples of bravura: "Let the bright Seraphim" from '' Samson'', " Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" (Act II of ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'') and "Non più mesta" from '' La Cenerentola''. Musical terms "allegro di bravura" and "con bravura" indicate boldness, fire and brilliance. The term "bravura" also refers to daring performance in ballet, e.g., in reference of the ''

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

'' from '' Le Corsaire''. Lynn Garafola describes the Russian ballet school of

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (; born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa; 11 March 1818) was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. He is considered one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history ...

as "marrying the new Italian bravura technique to its more lyrical French counterpart".'' The Cambridge Companion to Ballet''
p. 151
/ref>

References

Music performance Italian words and phrases {{Music-stub